The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Shandong Provincial Transport Department have inked an agreement to establish a new green and digital shipping corridor (GDSC), aimed at fostering sustainable and technologically advanced maritime trade between Singapore and China’s Bohai and Yellow Sea regions.
As disclosed, the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the 25th Singapore-Shandong Business Council meeting in the presence of high-level government officials.
Singapore, believed to be one of the biggest bunkering hubs in the world, and Shandong, home to a cluster of ports including Qingdao Port, one of the ‘busiest container ports in the world’, have stated that their all-embracing goal would be to ‘leverage their collective strengths’ in order to give sustainable maritime practices a push forward.
The Singapore-Shandong green and digital shipping corridor will reportedly build on the growing trade volumes between the regions and focus on adopting eco-friendly as well as digital shipping solutions and ‘strengthening’ the growth of the maritime industry between Singapore and the Bohai and Yellow Sea.
As understood, the MoU has set the stage for collaboration between various stakeholders—maritime companies, port operators, shipyards, and research institutes—to promote the adoption of low-carbon technologies, facilitate port clearances through digital information sharing, share knowledge and ‘best practices’, as well as improve the handling of alternative fuels and shore power technologies.
‘Green corridor’ efforts have been skyrocketing in the past years, with data from the Norwegian classification society DNV showing that there were well over 50 such initiatives as of February 2024—a jump from the previous year’s 44.
As per Singapore MPA, the latest MoU marks the second GDSC between Singapore and China, following the Singapore-Tianjin GDCS that was established in 2023.
According to the partners’ statement from that year, the corridor was envisioned as a ‘valuable testbed’ for both countries to assess and trial digital solutions, alternative fuels and technologies, and support ‘talent development’ to accelerate the decarbonization and digitalization of shipping.
In the following months, namely in December 2023, Japan expressed interest in GDSC, which resulted in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan (MLIT) and the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Singapore (MOT) inking a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) for the creation of a Japan-Singapore corridor.
Most recently, at the beginning of October, the UK’s Imperial College London and Singapore MPA finalized a partnership through a MoU aimed at ‘advancing innovations in zero-carbon shipping’ and supporting the decarbonization of the maritime sector.
As informed, under the MoU terms, Singapore MPA and the Imperial College will explore talent development initiatives such as student exchange programs, industry internships, research, teaching and knowledge exchanges with Singapore’s universities.
This project is said to be a ‘natural progression’ of the two parties’ five-year collaboration that brought together scientists and maritime experts to create ‘enhanced’ digital technologies, including but not limited to cybersecurity solutions and smart port systems.
Source: Offshore Energy
